Tag Archives: body

You may have seen the word “Ayurveda” or “Ayurvedic” pop up in our current culture of New Age and holistic lifestyles. This 3,000-year-old system originated in India from the same texts that gave us Yoga, Hinduism and Buddhism. You’ve heard of brushing your tongue to prevent bad breath? That’s Ayurveda. Making yourself throw up to prevent impending illness from poisoned food? Ayurveda. Neti pots (sinus washes)? Ayurveda! Even the latest turmeric craze is based in Ayurveda.

My favorite part about this preventative and curative system is that it prescribes a lifestyle based on your individual constitution, or prakriti. Our constitutions (mental, spiritual, physical) can have a dominant dosha: Pitta, Vata or Kapha. Each dosha has its own prescriptions for living a balanced lifestyle.

For example, I’m Vata-dominant, which means I love change (guilty – I like to change jobs, houses, interests like some people change coffee filters), have abundant ideas, and love exploring new things. My husband is a Kapha, and they are “slow and steady;” he has been in the same career for 25 years, would never move if I didn’t insist, and has the sort of paced endurance that allows him to run marathons.

Don’t wait to find out your dominant dosha (the highest score) with a quick quiz. **It’s possible to have two dominant doshas (in that case, follow the plan to balance both of them), or even have all three doshas with the same score (good for you – make sure to stay balanced!).** I’m telling you, it’s scary-accurate…more so than astrological signs, in my opinion. You want to start eating, exercising, working and simply living how the advice suggests. It has helped me get and stay well more than almost anything besides meditation.

If you’d like some personal Ayurvedic guidance, please don’t hesitate to contact me for an in-person or online session. May your journey to wholeness be filled with ease and joy.

Hear it from a classic boob-hater; I’ve wanted to nip, tuck and lift my girls as much as the next person but have recently started owning the stretch marks and sagginess as part of acting “French.” (Their no-bra study says it all). No longer am I battling push-up bras and looking at implant Before and Afters online, but rather I’m free-flying as much as possible and doing a few exercises to boost my chest-area confidence.

Because breasts are made up of fat and other tissue, to “tone” them, you need to focus on the pectoral muscles on which they rest. Here are my top chest-strengthening yoga poses:

1. Chaturanga

This low push-up position allows maximum strengthening of the pecs.

2. Bakasana

Your chest muscles play a key role in Crow while keeping your head from toppling forward.

3. Bhujangasana

After strengthening a particular muscle group, ensure those torn muscle fibers reshape correctly by giving them a good stretch. Cobra opens up the chest in a gentle way.

Before going under the knife, which not only has risk of complication but also requires lifetime maintenance, perhaps try some of these to naturally lift everyone’s favorite body part.

When you’re feeling icky from one too many snowmen-shaped sugar cookies, reach for the green. Honestly, any natural food that is green has detoxifying properties that will reset your metabolism and give you a confidence boost.

You already know how I feel about chlorophyll (take 2 tbl every day to detox our environment’s heavy metals out of your system). Then there’s green produce, which packs vitamins, plus the fiber to encourage elimination. Finally, take plentiful Epsom salt baths. Not only do you feel super soaking in the hot, salty cloud, but also, the magnesium pull heavy metals from your body, and nips stress in the bud as it ups your serotonin.

So when you’re feeling sluggish and hefty, use the power of nature – and GREEN – to boost your body’s burning power.